The portion of stocks held by foreign investors on local stock markets has fallen to a 27-month low.
 
The Korea Exchange said Thursday that foreign nationals owned seven-billion-560-million shares of listed companies as of Tuesday, which accounted for 11-point-95 percent of shares traded on the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and the tech-heavy KOSDAQ.
 
It is the first time the portion of foreign-owned shares on local stock markets has fallen below 12 percent since September 2013.
 
The drop is attributed to foreign investors unloading local securities ahead of an expected key interest rate hike in the United States, coupled with growing fluctuations in the won-dollar exchange rate, which has raised uncertainties over the local market.